Recipes

I’ve been indoctrinated since birth to eat sufficient green leafy vegetables. No outright threats were made should this not occur, but dire consequences were implied. (Thanks, mom.) Therefore, my concience is soothed by consumption of a smoothie containing said guards against the evils of poor health. My particular favorite for smoothies is spinach because you can’t taste it at all. Here’s how I get my greens in the morning.

Green Smoothie

1 banana

1 cup frozen berries

2 Tbsp raw almond butter (crunchy or creamy, different from each other but both good)

1-2 handfuls raw spinach

1 serving protein powder

almond milk, sufficient to blend properly

Just throw everything in the blender with the spinach on top for best blending results. I start with a cup of almond milk and add more if the ingredients won’t turn in the blender.

I view my kitchen exploits as relevant to the overall topic of this blog. Therefore, here’s a sample of my culinary niche.

I am currently following a diet meant to reduce the overgrowth of Candida, a yeast normally present in the digestive system. Sometimes, due to various factors such as taking antibiotics, this normally friendly digestive tract resident tries a hostile takeover, to the detriment of the billions of other microbes. In order to put my personal Candida tenants back in their place, I am eliminating the foods that promote their growth. For six weeks, I am avoiding sugar (in any refined forms, including honey, agave, etc.), yeast, any grains not in whole form, vinegar, fruit (save one piece per day), peanuts, dairy (save yogurt) and anything fermented.

One side effect of a Candida eliminating diet is a craving for sweets as soon as the yeast starts to die off. I have been experiencing this compulsion the past few days. Therefore, in order to quell my cravings and strengthen my resolve, I have adapted a classic oatmeal cookie recipe to be candida-diet friendly.

I looked at several oatmeal cookie recipes and the one I came up with is as follows:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine the following, all at room temperature with a mixer:

0.5 pound (2 sticks) butter

2 eggs

1 cup xylitol

Then in a separate bowl mix:

1.75 cup white whole wheat flour

0.75 tsp baking powder

0.75 tsp baking soda

1.5 tsp cinnamon

1.5 tsp nutmeg

0.5 tsp salt

Add dry ingredients to wet. Stir in:

3.5 cups oats

1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut.

Scoop heaping tablespoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet and flatten. Bake for 7-10 minutes. Take them out of the oven when they are starting to get light golden brown. Let cool a few minutes, then set on a rack to cool completely.

Now that my sweets cravings have quieted down for the moment, I can concentrate on making dinner.

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